JOIN US“I am taking moral responsibility for such a sad and tragic incident,” Patel told newspersons here after meeting the Prime Minister.
As soon as the news of the crash reached the national capital, the Prime Minister directed Patel to rush to the accident site and supervise rescue operations. After his return from Mangalore, Patel rushed to the Prime Minister’s residence directly from the airport and submitted a report to him.
Persistently asked whether he intended to resign while accepting moral responsibility for the incident, Patel did not give any clear-cut reply.“I felt anguished and saddened over the tragic incident. I conveyed my deep sense of anguish to the Prime Minister. He also felt very sad. But there are certain things over which we have no control.”
“The Prime Minister said we should not be overcome by the situation but try to face it,” Patel said. When he offered to quit, Patel said, the Prime Minister asked him not to take such a step.
Replying to volley of queries as to whether the crash was due to the pilots’ error, Patel said: “I would not like to make any comment at this stage. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has already ordered an inquiry. We have to wait for the findings.”
Earlier in the day, Patel, while inspecting the accident site in Mangalore, said both pilots of the aircraft were seniors, highly experienced and had made previous landings at the Mangalore airport.